Discovery Bank SpendTrend Rugby World Cup 2023 edition

Increased takeout and match day spend

It's well-known that there are significant benefits associated with major sporting events for the host country, but have you ever asked what the impact is on the winner's home country? Following the launch of Discovery Bank's second SpendTrend23 Report earlier this year, Discovery Bank has revealed Rugby World Cup 2023 insights, which looked at how this major world sporting event impacted the spending habits of Discovery Bank clients between 1 September and 28 October 2023 - in France and back home in SA.

"Winning the 2023 Rugby World Cup was an historic moment for the South African rugby team and our country. As a Bank built on digital technology, our insights help us to create better experiences for our clients and improve our products. We wanted to share our analytics around the event, which has displayed the remarkable ability to unite and inspire our nation," says Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery Bank.

Key findings of spend during the Rugby World Cup include:

• Flights booked from South Africa to the United Kingdom increased by 66% as fans tried to make their way to France to watch the Springboks.
• There were 50 times more flights booked from South Africa to France compared with the same time in 2022.
• More than 1,000 Discovery Bank clients attended a Rugby World Cup match in person as spend shifted from tourist hotspots to the vicinity of Stade de France on game days. Ordinarily this would be an immediate alert for potential fraud but we were excited by the knowledge that the Springboks would be getting a lot of cheers in the stadium.
• Whether clients supported the Bokke from South Africa or from their seats in France's stadiums, they spent more - there was an overall peak in spend on every day South Africa played.
• After the final match was won, spend among clients in South Africa increased by three times compared to any other average Saturday night during the year, with the celebration peaking minutes after the final whistle was blown.

View our Rugby World Cup SpendTrends:

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